An Author's Journey

Monthly Archives: May 2015

For all who served our great nation in the cause of liberty, for all who sacrificed themselves in the name of free speech and and to protect our right to be who and what we are without fear or persecution, and to those who loved and lost our brave soldiers of every creed, color, sexuality, and gender:

The following are some of my favorite quotes from authors about writing:

“All the best cutting is done when one is sick of writing.”
~ John Fowles ~

“The first draft of anything is shit.”
~ Ernest Hemingway ~

“A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.”
~ Thomas Mann ~

“A fish out of water is a dead fish, and a genius kept from his art is often a simpleton.”
~ Lajos Egri ~

These are posted on the wall behind my desk. It helps me to know that I’m not alone–and not the first to come to these same conclusions.

Have you got a favorite quote about writing? Please share.

BECOME AN APPRENTICE! Click FOLLOW on the right of your screen to stay tuned for updates and for exclusive material on Marc Royston’s A Wizard’s Life, an epic adult fantasy soon to be released as a serialized novel.

Our Wizard’s Workshop is now over 130 apprentices strong. Candidates from 72 different countries have passed through our doors.

Thank you to all who follow me on this path of magic and to all who participate and to all who share.

This week, I am preparing submission of The Wizard Ignites to DAW. No response as yet from Tor. Roughly 90 agents have been queried, with response to date from only 29 — all form rejections. (Don’t despair. This is the typical onset toward publication. A huge body of very successful and even classic novels went through years of rejection and piles of denial before ever making it to press.)

Waiting on no one, I am preparing a budget for self-publication. I’ll be launching two separate crowdfunding campaigns. The first will be to raise funds for developmental edit, copy edit, and proofreading. The second will be for design and layout, printing, and marketing. I am planning on digital editions plus a limited first edition hard copy to begin. The hard copy will most probably be Print-On-Demand to save me on warehousing.

Personal recommendations for editors with solid backgrounds and love and respect for the fantasy genre are appreciated.

I have to nail down quotes within the next few months and come to decision before I can setup the crowdfunding and launch. Once the developmental edit phase is complete, I’ll be vetting designers and getting quotes for the second crowdfunding campaign.

Meanwhile, I am also finishing up a period fantasy short story (set during the civil war and involving a grieving witch, a homicidal ghost, a confederate soldier weary of war, and the corpse of a satyr). The working title is “Hecate’s Faun”. I’ll be submitting that first as a Kindle Short. I’m curious to see how that program works.

On a personal note, I had a root canal two days ago, and the dentist had to drill into my skull as far as up and behind my nose. I’m still recouping from that mugging, but I am otherwise enjoying relief after months of agony. Back to the dentist again in a few weeks to hopefully resolve any complications.

Onward!

BECOME AN APPRENTICE! Click FOLLOW on the right of your screen to stay tuned for updates and for exclusive material on Marc Royston’s A Wizard’s Life, an epic adult fantasy soon to be released as a serialized novel.